According to a report from MyMMANews.com that's since been verified by MMAWeekly.com, Ian Heinisch will get his ideal next fight after all.
Reportedly scheduled to take on Derek Brunson at UFC 241, Heinisch (13-1) will look to make it three straight wins since officially stepping inside the octagon. Heinisch entered the promotion via 'Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series,' knocking out Justin Sumter and then arriving in the UFC with a points victory over Cezar Ferreira. Most recently, Heinisch defeated Antonio Carlos Jr, taking a decision win and halting his foe's five fight win streak.
Following that result, Heinisch publicly targeted Brunson, quite simply declaring that "I just feel I can beat him." Without having to wait very long, Heinisch will now indeed get his way. Either way, the impressive recent form has earned Heinisch the 11th position in the UFC's Middleweight rankings.
On the other hand, Brunson (19-7) is far from new to the UFC rankings, retaining a top 10 position for much of his UFC career. Outside of a respectable loss against Yoel Romero, Brunson won seven of his first eight octagon appearances, eventually being stopped by a surging Robert Whittaker. Since then, Brunson is 3-3, being finished by Ronaldo Souza and Israel Adesanya after knocking out Lyoto Machida.
Earlier this month though, Brunson snapped a two fight losing streak via decision win over Elias Theodorou. With that win under his belt, Brunson will now look to start a new streak of his own, maintaining his top 10 status.
UFC 242 takes place at the Honda Center on August 17th. The PPV is headlined by Daniel Cormier's Heavyweight Title rematch with Stipe Miocic. The full card can be found below:
UFC Heavyweight Title
Daniel Cormier (c) vs. Stipe Miocic
Nate Diaz vs. Anthony Pettis
Yoel Romero vs. Paulo Costa
Derek Brunson vs. Ian Heinisch
Raphael Assuncao vs. Cory Sandhagen
